Sri Lanka is slowly moving towards decriminalising homosexuality. The country’s President has said his government will not oppose a private member’s bill calling for the laws to be changed.
On 11th September President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that his government will not oppose a private member’s bill put forward by MP Premnath C Dolawatte. The Prime Minister noted however that the bill would still need to get the support of individual members before it could be considered.
According to the Columbo Gazette the President spoke about the bill during a conversation with the United States Agency for International Development.
“We are for it, but you have to get the support of individual members. It’s a matter of their private conscience,” he said.
The Prime Minister recently posed for a picture alongside Dolawatte with the bill. The bill aims amend section 365 and 365A of the nation’s penal code to remove wording that makes same-sex relationships illegal.
Like many nations the section of law outlawing same-sex activity date from a time when the country was a British colony. The offence is punished by a jail sentence of 10 years, however in recent years the courts have ruled that the prison sentence is no longer warranted, however convictions are still recorded.
While Britian removed the laws from its books in 1958 many countries around the world still make homosexual activity illegal. India removed its similar laws in 2018 and earlier this year Singapore announced it would also update its legislation.
In 2017 then British Prime Minister Theresa May said the laws that criminalised homosexuality around the world were wrong, and many had been left as remnants of British colonialism.
Sri Lanka is currently facing an economic crisis with sky rocketing inflation. Wickremesinghe became the country’s leader in July when his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country.
OIP Staff
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